


Sleight of hand: Aftermath

by rosa241



Series: Brothers, lovers and everything in between [5]
Category: The Musketeers (2014)
Genre: Hurt d'Artagnan, Worried brothers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-15
Updated: 2015-01-15
Packaged: 2018-03-07 17:42:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3177791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosa241/pseuds/rosa241
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It doesn't take long for the others to notice that D'Artagnan is injured after his dealings with Vadim. Of course it's big brothers to the rescue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleight of hand: Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> No warnings apply here.

Sleight of Hand: Aftermath

By Rosa241

“I should have strangled you at the Chatelet, saved myself a lot of trouble.” D’Artagnan leans over the man, anger evident in his eyes.

“Why didn’t you?” He spits out.

“For the fun of it. It was a good trick…it should’ve worked.” Vadim choked on his words as his breathing slowed.

“It nearly did.” As Vadim finally lost his battle and greeted death two things struck me suddenly. Number one was the pride that flowed through me at D’Artagnan’s actions and number two was the way that the young man in question paled suddenly. Before I could move Aramis had slipped easily to the young man’s side and grabbed his swaying body.

“Head injury.” He mumbled as he pressed his fingers against the lump on D’Artagnan’s head causing him to wince. It was only now that I caught sight of the dried blood on the side of his face. Looking the lad up and down it quickly became apparent that the only reason he was still standing was through sheer force of will.

“I’ll grab the horses.” Porthos mumbled as he took off. I shot him a grateful look before moving to D’Artagnan’s other side, I grabbed hold of his shoulders and steadied him. Nodding his thanks Aramis shifted himself to get a better look at the head injury, frowning when he did.

“There’s two head injuries.” My body tensed at that. _Two head injuries…those bastards hit him twice._ “Ones older, the bloods dried…the others fresh…”

Part of me suddenly wished that Vadim was still alive so I could run him through myself. Shaking the thoughts from my head I focused my attention on the young man who was struggling to remain standing. Aramis continued muttering to himself for a couple of minutes before his gaze met mine.

“I need to check him over properly. He might have broken ribs.” _Shit. Broken ribs? What the hell did they do to him?_

“We’ll take him back to my place.” At Aramis’ confused look I continued. “He’s still a wanted man, until his name’s cleared he needs to be kept away from the Red Guard.”

Before anything else could be said Porthos returned with the horses. His own breathing was heavy, signalling that he’d ran as fast as he could. It took more effort than it should have to load D’Artagnan onto my horse, by now the poor boy was all but unconscious, but eventually we set off. I’d insisted that he ride with me. I couldn’t protect him from Vadim but I can protect him now.

\-------------------------------------- **Musketeers** \-----------------------------------

I couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief as the door finally opened. Aramis had grabbed whatever equipment he’d needed from his own lodgings before racing back here, at which point he’d quickly thrown both myself and Athos out of the room. Aramis always preferred to work alone where he could but it was killing me. The entire thing was awful. Not knowing for all this time whether he was okay has been the hardest thing. Thinking for those moments that he was dead, thinking that he’d been killed…shaking my head I followed Aramis into the room where D’Artagnan now rested comfortably.

“So what’s the damage then?” Athos had said very little whilst waiting for news, his obvious concern and misplaced guilt tearing him apart.

“Well he’s got two head injuries. One from not too long ago and another that’s started to heal. Most likely the Red Guards thought they’d have some fun with him whilst he was locked up.” My blood boiled at that. _As soon as he’s awake I’m getting those names and I’ll string each and every one of them up by their ankles._ As Aramis continued to rattle off the injury list my anger only grew. “Two broken ribs and countless others bruised. Speaking of bruising the poor lad’s littered with them, most likely they’re from the explosion. I suspect he was closer to it than we were.”

“Closer? How can you tell?” He gestured to where D’Artagnan’s right forearm was covered with a bandage.

“It’s a burn.” Swearing loudly I forced myself to stay seated, if I get up right now I’ll end up doing something stupid.

“What is it?” Athos’ question had Aramis squirming slightly. The medic had looked increasingly concerned as he’dgone through the injury but there was more hidden behind those eyes. Anger. “Aramis what is it?” As our stoic leader repeated the question Aramis sighed and gestured to his wrists.

“He was tied up at some point. The skin on his wrists has been taken off. I’ve seen this before when men have forced themselves out of there bonds.” This time it was Athos who swore, causing both our eyes to widen as he turned away from the bed and sent his glare out of the window. “And then there’s the neck injury.”

Something floated back into my mind as Aramis went silent.

_I should have strangled you back at the Chatelet…_

_Strangled…_

“That bastard.” Slamming my fist into the table I can’t help cringing when D’Artagnan stirs. Thankfully that boy drifts back off into sleep without waking. “The bastard tried to strangle him.”

Aramis says nothing but keeps his back to us. It’s clear from the tension in his stance how hard this has affected him. Since the boy came to Paris we’ve both seen that he’s been fighting off his concern for him. For whatever reason he’s refusing to accept that he cares for the boy, neither of us have been able to explain it. Of course it hasn’t worked. No matter how hard he’s tried to keep the boy at arms length D’artagnan has managed to shuffle himself into Athos’ heart without even realising it.

\------------------------------ **Musketeers** \----------------------------

Its several hours later when the lad finally wakes up enough to tell us what happened.

“Tied to the gun powder!?!” Aramis shouts, regretting it instantly when D’Artagnan groans and buries his head further into the pillow. Out of the three of us he’s been the most composed, choosing instead to focus on the young lad’s injuries instead of Vadim. Now that the lads finally awake however the gloves are off. “Well I suppose that explains the wrist injuries.”

As he recalls what happened in the tunnels before we found him the anger in the room only grows more intense. By the time he’s finished Aramis has a rather impressive death grip on a piece of cloth, Athos’ has somehow managed to avoid breaking the glass of wine he’s holding whilst I’ve taken to pacing the room like a caged beast.

“You didn’t pray for his soul did you?” Athos questions the medic as he lifts his eyes from the table.

“Didn’t get round to it. Bastard can rot in hell for all I care.” A snort of laughter bubbles up from D’Artagnan before he quickly groans and curls his arms around his ribs.

“Try not to move too much, those ribs need resting.” As the pain ebbs away D’Artagnan manages a nod, yawning widely as the exhaustion of these last few days catches up with him.

“Sleep.” Athos commands as he finally stands and places a hand on the young lads shoulder. “We’ll be here when you wake up.”

His words do the trick and before another word can be said his eyes have slipped closed and his breathing has evened out. Sharing a look with Aramis neither of us can help but smile slightly. Athos might be trying hard to keep the boy out of his life but it’s never going to work. He cares far too much about him, his heart will win over eventually.

_Who knows, maybe this will be just what he needs?_

**Author's Note:**

> Until next time, enjoy!


End file.
